Strategic Management of Twitter: Analysis and Future Strategies Report

This report offers a detailed analysis of Twitter's strategic management, examining both deliberate and emergent approaches to strategy formulation. It assesses the competitive environment using Porter's Five Forces and PEST analysis, evaluating opportunities and threats. The VRIO framework is applied to evaluate Twitter's strategic capabilities, and the report proposes alternative future strategies. The SAF model is then utilized to select and justify the most suitable strategy for Twitter's future. The report explores the importance of strategic management for major players in the micro-blogging and social networking industry and provides a comprehensive overview of Twitter's strategic landscape, challenges, and opportunities.

Strategic Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. a) Analyse and justify what makes the Twitter strategy formulation approach both
deliberate and emergent. Evaluate the limitations of both approaches to strategy formulation. 1
1. b) Explain why the development of strategic management is important for the major players
in the micro blogging and social networking industry?..............................................................3
2. a) Critically analyse the competitive environment facing Twitter in the social networking
industry. Evaluate the balance of opportunities and threats........................................................3
2. b) Evaluate strategic capability of Twitter using Value, Rare, Imitability and Organisational
Support (VRIO) framework. What lessons, if any, can other companies learn from your
analysis and evaluation in this task?...........................................................................................6
3. a) Critically analyse Twitter’s current strategies and propose a range of practical alternative
future strategies for possible adoption by the organisation.........................................................8
3. b) Using the SAF (Suitability, Acceptability and Feasibility) strategic model, select and
justify the strategy that you believe Twitter should pursue in the future....................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management can be referred to as a process adopted by an organisation in a bid
to craft as well as implement effective and efficient business strategies. This provides assistance
to the corporation in gaining a sustainable competitive advantage in market place. By thoroughly
carrying out strategic management, the top management of a company strives to attain positive
outcomes in terms of increment in revenue, profit and customer base. The current report seeks to
explore the strategic management carried out within the bounds of Twitter. This is a well
renowned micro-blogging and social networking company that provides a lucrative platform to
the companies in accordance with which they can exchange tweets, messages, post, etc. The
report consists of approaches to strategy formulation along with industrial analysis of the
company. Along with this, VRIO analysis is covered in the project. Lastly, Porter's Generic
Strategy model is applied to determine the most suitable strategy for future context of time
together with the application of SAF to determine its viability.
MAIN BODY
1. a) Analyse and justify what makes the Twitter strategy formulation approach both deliberate
and emergent. Evaluate the limitations of both approaches to strategy formulation
Deliberate approach: It is defined as a practice that is systematic and purposeful as well.
This practice states that one of the essential thing that is required is focus in order to improve
performance and to set specific objectives. In addition to this, it states that development of skills
and expertise requires feedback instead of implementing task repetitively. This approach was
used by Twitter and its main principles that is focused by company is given below:
Talent is not enough: This principle signifies that talent in an individual is not enough in
order to get best results, the positive outcome is gained only when an individual practice it in an
effective manner. In context to Twitter, its higher authorities believes on perfection and for this
they develop dummy activities that help in proper implementation of overall activities and results
out in a proper manner.
Expert performance: It is determine that to learn a concept, it require in depth study and
needs repeated exposure. For this, company make use of expertise that supports its staff members
to implement out task in a proper manner and also aid Twitter to deal with customers in an
effective manner.
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Focus: This principle states that to attain desired goals and to set things for long-term,
one of the key is focus. With reference to Twitter, it make use of this principle as it help to
clarify goals to all the employees in a proper manner and meet with the targets on time period.
Goal setting: It is determined that goal setting is one of the powerful motivator that aid in
proper as well as timely implementation of activities. In relation to Twitter, its managers set the
goals and communicate it to all the employees so that all the activities is executed with set
standards that has direct impact on performance and profitability of company.
Feedback: It is consider as last principle of deliberate approach which states that in order
to make improvements, it is important for a company to take feedback from its customers after
providing the services to them. In relation to Twitter, it make follow this principle and take
reviews of users so that improvements take place as per the requirements that directly leads to
satisfaction and development of positive mind-set towards Twitter.
Advantages- One of the advantage of using such approach is it help in optimum
allocation of resource and alignment of activities. In addition to this, it aid twitter to set and
clarify objectives in an effective manner.
Limitation- It is determine that this approach involves of being fixated on a particular
outcome which directly leads to rigidity in activities and operations of twitter.
Emergent approach: It is defined as a set of actions, behaviour that is consistent
overtime. In addition to this, it is mainly an internally consistent ways of competitive actions as
well as reactions that occurs over time.
Advantage- The benefit of emergent approach is flexibility that help Twitter to maintain
a balance with the changing business environment and also aid in better decision making.
Limitation- It is analysed that emergent approach is unpredicted and unplanned that
occurs conflicts to Twitter at the time of allocation of resources in an effective manner.
Difference between deliberate and emergent strategic approach
Basis Deliberate strategic approach Emergent strategic approach
Planning
pattern
It is based on the principle of think
and act.
It consist of pattern from future, present
and past for noticing & legitimating
them.
Strategy
Goal
Herein, the strategy is declared by
top level management at initial level
Herein, strategy as understand as
viewpoint of market conditions.
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and after this, it is based on
planning.
Roles In this approach, the higher
authorities declares strategy and
then it is execute by middle
management.
IN this, the strategy is formulate as well
as implement by top and middle level
management.
The present initiatives of Twitter has based on both emergent as well as deliberate
approach. The emergent approach facilitates better planning in order to maintain a balance &
coordination with the changing environment. In addition to this, deliberate approach aid in
attaining desired goals and objectives in an effective manner.
1. b) Explain why the development of strategic management is important for the major players in
the micro blogging and social networking industry?
It is determined that development of strategic management plays a significant roles for
players such as Twitter in social networking and micro blogging as well. It is a concept that help
in formulation of effective strategy and plans by considering future requirements, objectives,
goals in an effective manner. Strategic management is significant for Twitter as it focuses on
forward thinking which provides different idea and direction to move forward in an appropriate
manner that has positive impact on the overall growth of company. Along with this, it is analysed
that strategic management aid an entity to properly allocate the resources that help in gaining
opportunities and attracting people towards Twitter that leads to raise in its customer base level.
Therefore, it is said that strategic management is important for social networking and micro
blogging industry as it aid in evaluation of external and internal environment which ensure
attainment of best opportunities in an effective manner. In addition to this, it help in better use of
competencies and strengths that directly leads to attainment of objectives within stipulated time
period.
2. a) Critically analyse the competitive environment facing Twitter in the social networking
industry. Evaluate the balance of opportunities and threats.
It is analysed that sector in which Twitter is dealing consist of high level of competition in
market. For gaining an insight about competitive environment, the higher authorities of Twitter
adopt Porter's five force model & PEST analysis as well. It help company to gain better
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opportunity and decline the level of threats in an effective manner. Both the frameworks is given
below in relation to respective company:
Porter’s five force model
This model is used by an entity to analyse the level of competition prevailing at
marketplace. It consist of five competitive factors that aid Twitter to identify its competitive
environment and to attain better opportunities which in turn help in declining level of threats.
The factors is given below:
Threats of new entrants- It is determine that this threat is mainly based on the time as
well as cost occurred by competitors and new firms to enter into the market. The threat of new
entrant for Twitter is low as it occur high cost to competitors and it is not easy to develop such a
brand image that Twitter has in market. Moreover, it is analysed that Twitter make use of high
level of technology which is not easy to achieve by new entrants.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers- This threat is associated with the power of suppliers in
order to increase the cost of raw materials provided by them. In relation to Twitter, it is
determine that this threat is high for Twitter as there are limited number of suppliers who provide
technical equipments. Along with this, it is analysed that in this industry there are lack of people
who post attractive and new Tweets so it is important for higher authorities of Twitter to
maintain good relationship with suppliers in order to ensure availability of resources and
implementation of activities on time period.
Bargaining power of Buyers- This threat is high for respective company as there are lot
of competitors in market that offer same service that Twitter offer in market. It is important for
Twitter to develop an effective strategy and maintain good relationship with customers so that
they cannot shift to another company and remain loyal with its services.
Competitive rivalry- This factor states the number of rivals & their potential to impact on
performance and operations of a company. With reference to Twitter, there are lot of competitors
in social networking industry such as Facebook, Instagram, Myspace and many more. It is
analysed that this threat is high for Twitter so it is essential for company to keep on making
innovation a it help in attracting large number of users towards organisation.
Threat of Substitutes- It is determine that threat of substitute is high for company as
many close substitutes is prevailing in market like Instagram, Facebook and so on. The
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organisation is facing many issues in order to maximise its user base level and to increase its
market share in an effective manner.
PEST Analysis
This is a strategic management model which is applied by the organisations across the
globe for the purpose of screening the external environment. The application of this model
provides aid to the company in gaining knowledge of the opportunities as well as threats linked
to the business environment within which the entity operates. Thus, the external environment
analysis of Twitter is done with the help of PEST analysis beneath:-
Political- The political landscape in majority of the revenue generating countries of
Twitter is acknowledged to be stable. This creates opportunity for the micro blogging and social
networking organisation to augment its revenues as well as profits in the long run. However, it is
also seen that the strict regulations placed by the government regarding the content to be posted
over the website and its sensitivity tend to create hurdles for the financial performance of the
firm.
Economical- The economic landscape of the world is deteriorating owing to the
pandemic named COVID-19 the outspread of which has resulted into economic downturn.
However, due to the lockedown situation, it has been observed that the activity of people upon
the social networking websites such as Twitter has augmented, creating an upsurge in the
financial performance of the company.
Social- The trends and patterns of consumers across the globe keep on changing at a
rapid pace. In this relation, Twitter has the opportunity to incorporate changes that can suit the
needs and demands of consumers. The feature of going LIVE as found on Instagram and
Facebook is one of the most trendy concepts that can be taken into account by the organisation.
Technological- The evolution of technology across the globe holds both opportunity as
well as threat for Twitter. The opportunity is that the respective micro blogging and social
networking website can incorporate changes in its interface to appeal to customers impeccably.
The threat concerned with this factor is that the rival firms also have the resources to bring about
a market disruptive technology and gain a significant share in market.
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2. b) Evaluate strategic capability of Twitter using Value, Rare, Imitability and Organisational
Support (VRIO) framework. What lessons, if any, can other companies learn from your
analysis and evaluation in this task?
VRIO Analysis
It is a strategic tool that help an entity to protect and uncover its resources as well as
capabilities which provide them a long-term competitive edge. It is basically a part of internal
analysis that consist of four components. In order to gain insight about internal capabilities and
environment, managers of Twitter adopt VRIO analysis. These are as follows:
Resources/
capabilities
Valuable Rare Inimitable Organised
Global presence Yes yes Yes yes
Financial
strength
No No No No
Technological
innovation
Yes No No No
Human resource Yes Yes yes No
Valuable: It is determined that one of the major resource that Twitter has is its global
presence as there are millions of people have knowledge about Twitter and its usage as well. It
assist company to enhance its customer base level and attain competitive advantage at
marketplace. Another valuable resource that Twitter has is its talented and skilled employees
who perform all the activities in an effective manner and help company to reach on leading
position as well. Technological resource is also consider as valuable resources of Twitter as it
provide all the new features that is attractive and aid company to achieve competitive advantage
at marketplace.
Rare: One of the rare resources of company is its global presence as it has more than
millions of users. In addition to this, another rare resource of Twitter is its employees so it is
important for top level management to focus on identifying their needs so that it can be fulfilled
in a proper manner. It also motivates employees and make them feel valued at workplace due to
which they work with full potential towards attainment of objectives within given time frame.
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Moreover, it also aid Twitter to attain competitive advantage by giving quality and on time
service to its users.
Inimitable: It is considered as things that is not easily copied by other competitors
prevailing at marketplace. It is determine that Twitter has effective and talented staff members
that is not easily attained and copied by its rivals. Along with this, another inimitable resource
that cannot be easily gained by others is its global presence. The company has lot of users and
for this it is going to bring out new feature that will attract customers and help in attaining long-
term sustainability and competitive advantage as well.
Organised: Twitter in its initial days was renowned for its good organisational culture
and effective & talented employees as well. In addition to this, it make use of financial incentives
in order to encourage its employees which help them to employee satisfaction and retention as
well. One of the resource that is properly organised by Twitter is its global presence although its
number of users is declined but its global presence is strong as company focuses on brand
awareness. Along with this, organise is presence will help company to increase its customer base
level and strengthen its financial position in an effective manner. This will directly leads to
attainment of competitive edge and also help Twitter to sustain in market for longer time period.
SWOT analysis
For the purpose of evaluation of competencies and resources of Twitter there is use of
SWOT analysis as mentioned below:
Strength Weakness
 Twitter has a strong technological
competence and updated analytical
capabilities.
 Twitter has a global brand image and
they are also using different marketing
tools for the purpose of expansion in
coming time period.
 There is presence of strong and
competent workforce in Twitter that is
 There is a high privacy concern that
affects the users of Twitter.
 There is lack of timely innovation and
creativity that is one of the biggest
weakness of Twitter as compared to
other social media applications who are
involved in continuous innovations.
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aiding to their high productivity.
Opportunity Threat
 There is a opportunity for Twitter to
engage in continuous innovation and
make timely developments according to
expectations of their present users.
 Twitter can move towards using e
commerce platforms for the purpose of
their expansion.
 The presence of many competitor
brands like whatsapp, Facebook,
Instagram, snap-chat are one of the
major threats that can affect
performance of Twitter in the social
media industry in coming time of few
years.
 There is presence of very high
competition in micro blogging sector
that is leading to that is creating a high
threat for Twitter.
3. a) Critically analyse Twitter’s current strategies and propose a range of practical alternative
future strategies for possible adoption by the organisation
Twitter is one of the top notch companies within the bounds of social networking world.
The current strategy of the organisation is to leverage its skilled human resources and its ability
to adopt the latest technologies in order to effectively appeal to its customers across the globe. It
is important for the organisation to select and execute an effective business strategy in the long
run to attain a competitive edge over its rivals in the market. For this purpose, the management
of Twitter has applied Porter's Generic model which consists of 4 comprehensive strategies out
of which the most suitable one can be applied by the entity to gain fruitful outcomes. Below
mentioned is the application of this model to Twitter:-
Cost Leadership strategy-
This is one of the most widely used strategies out of the four belonging to the Generic
Model. Hereby, an organisation offers its products to the customers at the lowest price possible
in order to attract the attention of large base of customers. In this relation, it has been
acknowledged that this is made possible by lowering the cost of production by application of
cost reduction techniques and systems. This helps the organisation to increase its profit margins
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in the long run. The adoption of this strategy by Twitter would imply the increment in sales as
well as profits for the micro blogging and social networking website.
Differentiation strategy-
This is a strategy that is focussed upon making a distinct image of the company in the
bounds of market place. For this purpose, the entity introduces differentiated products and
services which can appeal to the customers in an impeccable manner and influence them to make
a purchase. This strategy assists a company to augment its revenues by differentiating itself
among the rival firms operating within the confines of same industry. The application of this
strategy by Twitter would imply the attainment of a larger share of market place by the social
networking company through provision of unique features on the platform.
Cost Focus-
This strategy is associated with focusing on a small or niche market through leading cost
efficiency and reduction in operation expenses. Adoption of cost focus strategy is only useful for
Twitter to attract or cater a niche target market through leading reduction in its cost and offering
lower price for clients to ensure attracting larger number of customers.
Differentiation Focus-
This strategy of Porter’s Generic strategies focuses is also have main focus and emphasis
on niche and small target market through leading uniqueness and better features in product and
services. Adoption of differentiation focus by Twitter could be made to get more customer
loyalty through offering better quality and superior services to its users.
As per the comprehensive analysis conducted upon the 4 strategies belonging to the
Porter's Generic Model, it can be said that differentiation is recognised to be the most suitable
strategy for Twitter. This strategy will provide aid to the micro blogging website to create its
distinct image among the public at large and appeal to them in a significant manner. Through the
application of this strategy, the entity will be able to increase its profits and revenues in a short
period of time and deal with the competition prevailing in the social networking industry.
3. b) Using the SAF (Suitability, Acceptability and Feasibility) strategic model, select and justify
the strategy that you believe Twitter should pursue in the future.
The screening of strategies is done with the help of SAF model to determine the most
suitable strategy in accordance with its 3 criteria named suitability, acceptability and feasibility.
Thus, the SAF analysis of differentiation strategy of Twitter is presented as follows:-
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Suitability- This criterion determines the extent of suitability of a business strategy for an
organisation. The differentiation strategy for Twitter is acknowledged to be suitable as the issue
related to the decrease in number of people active on this media over the course of time can be
countered with the help of this strategy. Differentiation strategy will allow the company to create
a distinct image in market place by differentiating it from the rival firms functioning within the
bounds of same industry. Thus, the suitability of this strategy for Twitter is significantly proved.
Acceptability- This criterion helps to determine the extent of acceptability of the selected
business strategy amidst the public at large. Differentiation strategy of Twitter is acceptable withi
the population across the globe as this allows them to come to face with unique and
differentiating features of Twitter which may not be found on any other micro blogging or social
networking platform. In this relation, it can be said that this strategy will be accepted by the users
of this platform. It will provide assistance to the firm in expanding its reach within the public and
increasing its loyal base of customers.
Feasibility- This criterion helps to determine the extent of viability of a particular
business strategy for the company. In this relation, it has been acknowledged that the
differentiation strategy which is proposed to be implemented by Twitter is feasible in terms of
technology, finance, human resource, market and other parameters. In this relation, it can be said
that this strategy can be duly executed by the firm to attain a competitive edge over the rival
firms, thereby attaining a significant share in global market.
CONCLUSION
In accordance with the discussion done in the report above, it can be comprehensively
summarised that strategic management is a vital process that needs to be carried out by each and
every company that operates as a part of the economy. This enables a company to come up with
effective strategic that can ensure its long term existence in market. In addition to this, it is
determined that global presence of the company meets the criteria of VRIO, providing it
sustainable advantage in the long run. Along with this, differentiation is one of the most suitable
strategies of the Porter's Generic Model. SAFe model enables an organisation to check the
viability of a strategy in terms of its suitability, acceptability and feasibility.
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